Often you'll find that the best options for redeeming miles on a particular airline are through the frequent flyer program of a partner airline. Actually, I'd argue that's the case more often than not, and it's where we see many of the best award chart…
SkyMiles
While Delta SkyMiles aren't my favorite mileage currency, one of the things I do appreciate about SkyMiles is that they have a higher "floor" value than American and United miles. That's to say that you can potentially "cash-out" SkyMiles towards the…
One of the things that make Delta credit cards unique is how they can be used to earn status. Delta lets you spend your way towards status, and in theory, you could even earn top tier status with Delta exclusively through credit card spending. There's…
There's a letter making the rounds that Delta customer care allegedly sent to a frequent flyer. And the way it's written is kind of surprising. Here's the letter, in its entirety: Mr. Litt, This letter is being issued to express our concerns regarding…
Delta pretty frequently publishes flash sales on award tickets. More often than not these are for domestic and/or economy tickets, but at the moment they have an excellent sale for travel to Europe in business class. With this promotion you can fly roundtrip…
The end of the year is quickly approaching, which means that many of us are looking at our frequent flyer accounts and trying to figure out how to squeeze a few extra miles out of our travels so we can qualify (or requalify) for status. Towards the end…
Delta has just rolled out an interesting new program, called SkyMiles Select. This is a $59 bundle of travel benefits for SkyMiles members that's described as having a $100 value. The benefits are all valid for a year, and kick in within 24 hours of…
Most airlines offer some sort of lifetime status for especially loyal flyers, though the value of the status and the required tiers vary. Well, my dad just earned Million Miler status in the Delta SkyMiles program, and he has a rather interesting choice…
While there are many things that I'm not a fan of with Delta SkyMiles, I do appreciate that they've built a global network of airlines, and have gotten pretty good about offering reciprocal benefits when traveling with them or their partners. Rather…
I can't believe we're just over a week away from the last quarter of the year. Where the heck did the summer go? As we enter the final quarter of the year I tend to think it makes sense to start considering your overall elite status qualification plans.…
Of the "big three" US airline mileage currencies, I find Delta SkyMiles to be the least valuable. Delta seems to do just about everything they can to peg the value of a mile right at around a cent, with fewer and fewer opportunities to redeem them for…
For several years now Delta has been growing their presence in Seattle, and has been taking market share from Alaska Airlines. Seattle is a different market than most, in the sense that locals are fiercely loyal, and like giving business to companies…
We're now over halfway into 2019 (I'd say "where has time gone?" but I feel like I'm always wondering that), so I wanted to provide an update on how 2019 is looking for me status-wise at the halfway point. At the very beginning of 2019 I wrote a post…
Many airlines offer a status match or challenge, which is essentially a way for someone who is loyal to one program to switch their business to a competitor without having to start from scratch. In many cases these offers are “once in a lifetime,” so…
I've written in the past about how redeeming Virgin Atlantic Flying Club miles on Delta can be a spectacular value. The idea is that Delta SkyMiles has dynamic award pricing, and in many cases the award rates for travel on Delta can be outrageous, even…
While Delta SkyMiles aren't my favorite mileage currency, one of the things I do appreciate about SkyMiles is that they have a higher "floor" value than American and United miles. That's to say that you can potentially "cash out" SkyMiles towards the…
One of Delta's primary focuses over the past few years has been building their joint ventures in various regions. With a joint venture, airlines work closely together and align schedules, pricing, etc., allowing them to dominate markets. Delta does a…
Delta has just announced a new "Reclaim My Status" program, where SkyMiles Medallion members can reclaim their status after a major life event that impacts their travel. We've seen some other airlines introduce similar programs lately, though it typically…
Delta SkyMiles doesn't publish award charts. The price you see online is the price you get. Their logic is that the shopping experience for award flights should be the same as the experience of booking a revenue flight, where you also have dynamic pricing.…
Over the past few years we’ve seen basic economy fares expanded greatly at the “big three” US carriers. Airlines market these as being lower fares that enable them to compete with ultra low cost carriers, though in reality they’ve used these to try and…
Back in early 2013, Delta SkyMiles announced that they would be adding revenue requirements for earning status, starting with the 2014 program year. This began a long and ongoing trend of airline frequent flyer programs moving toward revenue-based requirements.…
Delta SkyMiles sure is a quirky loyalty program. We know that Delta is doing everything in their power to make SkyMiles a revenue based program in just about every way. This involves not only how they award miles, but also how you can redeem them. Increasingly,…
Over the past few years we've seen basic economy fares expanded greatly at the "big three" US carriers. Airlines market these as being lower fares that enable them to compete with ultra low cost carriers, though in reality they've used these to try and…
It’s the end of the year, which means a lot of people are looking at their frequent flyer accounts and trying to figure out how to squeeze a few extra miles out of their travel so they can qualify for the next elite tier. Towards the end of the year…
